Arsenal lodge official Manuel Locatelli transfer bid

Just when you didn’t think the transfer window could take anymore turns, Arsenal have lodged an official bid to sign Manuel Locatelli this summer, as confirmed by Sassuolo’s chief executive Giovanni Carnevali.

On the hunt for midfield reinforcements this summer, Arsenal have been linked with players across Europe in a bid to improve the squad to launch a meaningful assault on the Premier League top four.

When it became clear that Granit Xhaka would be leaving north London this summer, with Roma the side leading the chase despite their meagre offer, fans drew up their list of possible replacements. Manuel Locatelli featured high up on most peoples’ desired targets.

On Wednesday morning rumours came out of Italy that Juventus – the favourites for his signature – were stalling on their approach, with Arsenal informing Sassuolo that they would be willing to stump up the €40m (£34m) fee that the Serie A side are after.

Arsenal lodge stunning official Manuel Locatelli transfer bid as Juventus stall on midfielder’s £34m asking price in summer window

Such negotiation tactics are commonplace and generally considered as a plot to get the buying club, in this case Juventus, to cough up the asking price – they have been stalling and refusing to budge on €30m with a youth player included as makeweight.

However, the Italian club’s CEO confirmed to Sky Italia that Arsenal’s interest, which was known, is in fact deadly serious, and that an ‘important bid’ had been made.

"“Arsenal have made an official bid for Locatelli,” he told Sky Italy (via the Evening Standard). “They’re pushing hard to sign Manuel and it’s an important bid… we will see.“Juventus also want Locatelli and we have a special relationship with them. A new meeting has been scheduled with Juve.”"

Even with Juventus stalling, the volume of interest in Locatelli always meant this deal would be incredibly tough to pursue. However, Arsenal will not let this develop and other clubs enter the fray, with this bid an indication of their desires.

Locatelli is a superb young midfielder with outstanding distribution qualities, who would arrive in the Arsenal midfield with a task sheet similar to that of the departing Xhaka.

Excellent on the ball with passing figures to top all European charts, his added defensive qualities and, as seen at the European Championships, improved eye for goal make him a clear upgrade on 28-year-old Xhaka.

Can Arsenal still manage to pull this off? In lodging a bid they already put themselves at the front of the pack by being first to the party, a similar situation as with Ben White, who they now look certain to land ahead of other interested clubs.

Locatelli has expressed a willingness to play abroad but Juventus were always seen as his inevitable new stomping ground. I Bianconeri have, however, been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic and are weighed down by farcically high wages for Cristiano Ronaldo, therefore nothing is out of the question even if Arsenal can’t offer Champions League football.

From a tactically point of view, it’s clear Mikel Arteta wants to merge Arsenal into a fully fledged possession side. This is an exciting development.